Enclosure assembly

ABSTRACT

An enclosure assembly ( 1 ), and method of assembling transportation packaging therefrom, which is adapted to be supported on a container ( 2 ) and in situ the enclosure assembly encloses a region above the container, said enclosure assembly comprising co-operable attachment means ( 3, 7 ), the arrangement of the enclosure assembly being such that in use the attachment means of a first enclosure assembly which is supported on a container is engaged with the attachment means of a second enclosure assembly, said enclosure assemblies forming a stack in which the second enclosure assembly encloses a region above the first enclosure assembly. Advantageously, the enclosure assemblies can be stacked together to form a substantially rigid structure above the container according to the height of the goods in the container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application is a national stage application of prior InternationalApplication No. PCT/GB02/02569, filed May 31, 2002, which claims thebenefit of United Kingdom application No. 0013532, filed Jun. 5, 2001,which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to enclosure assemblies and in particularto enclosure assemblies which are adapted to be supported on a containerand in situ the enclosure assembly encloses a region above thecontainer.

A known transport packaging arrangement is disclosed in CH 239659 whichcomprises three stackable elements. The elements comprise externalfold-down buckle locks provided on side walls which serve to attach theelements together and the elements further comprising handle apertureswhich are provided on the end walls of the elements.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided anenclosure assembly which is adapted to be supported on a container andin situ the enclosure assembly encloses a region above the container,said enclosure assembly comprising co-operable attachment means andhandle means, the arrangement of the enclosure assembly being such thatin use the attachment means of a first enclosure assembly which issupported on a container is engaged with the attachment means of asecond enclosure assembly, said enclosure assemblies forming a stack inwhich the second enclosure assembly encloses a region above the firstenclosure assembly, the enclosure assembly being characterised in thatfirst attachment means comprises protrusion means and second attachmentmeans comprises protrusion receiving means, the protrusion receivingmeans being provided by a space which is sized to allow the fingers of aperson to pass therethrough, and the space being provided below thehandle means.

Preferably the enclosure assembly is of substantially tubular form andthe distal ends of which are open.

Preferably the first attachment means is spaced from the secondattachment means in the direction of the height of the enclosureassembly.

The first attachment means and the second attachment means are desirablylocated towards respective distal ends of the enclosure assembly.

In one preferred embodiment the first attachment means is locatedtowards a lowermost margin of the enclosure assembly and the secondattachment means is located towards an uppermost margin of the enclosureassembly.

The uppermost margin of the enclosure assembly may be adapted to providemounting for lid means.

Preferably the first attachment means of one enclosure assembly isadapted to be engaged with the second attachment means of anotherenclosure assembly.

Preferably engagement between the first attachment means of oneenclosure assembly and second attachment means of another enclosure isby way of a male-to-female arrangement.

Preferably the first attachment means is adapted to engage with acontainer so that the enclosure assembly is secured to the container toenclose a region above said container.

The protrusion means desirably comprises a portion which extendsgenerally laterally of the enclosure assembly and which portion isadapted to be received by complementary protrusion receiving means.

Although in one preferred embodiment the first attachment meanscomprises a feature which is adapted to engage with either of acontainer or the second attachment means of another enclosure assembly,the first attachment means may comprise the (physically distinctfeatures of) container attachment means and enclosure assemblyattachment means. So, for example, a lowermost margin of an enclosureassembly may be provided at least one protrusion which is adapted toengage with a recess in a side wall of a container and at least oneother protrusion which is adapted for engagement with a recess on a sidewall of another enclosure assembly.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention there is provided anenclosure assembly which is adapted to be supported on a container andin situ the enclosure assembly encloses a region above the container,the enclosure assembly comprising protrusion means which is co-operablewith a receiving means provided in a side wall of the container and thearrangement being such that in use the protrusion means is adapted toextend generally outwardly of the container and into the receiving meansso as to secure the enclosure assembly to the container.

The first attachment means preferably comprises protrusion means whichis provided secured to a resilient portion. The resilient portiondesirably extends generally downwards of the enclosure assembly. Theresilient portion is adapted to be deflectable in a direction which isgenerally lateral of the enclosure assembly.

Preferably where the enclosure is of oblong-rectangular shape,protrusion means are provided on opposite sides of the enclosureassembly.

The protrusion means is preferably of a tapered profile. The taperedprofile most preferably widens laterally of the enclosure assembly withincreasing height.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of a resilient tongue of in theassembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of the outside of a handle of theassembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a more detailed view of the inside of a handle of theassembly as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1 in asemi-collapsed condition;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a tray for use with the assemblyshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of two enclosure assemblies of the typeshown in FIG. 1 and the tray shown in FIG. 6, and;

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the enclosure assemblies of FIG. 7 in anattached condition.

With reference to FIG. 1 there is shown an embodiment 20 of an enclosureassembly in accordance with the invention. The enclosure assembly 20 isof oblong-rectangular shape and comprises two end walls 21 and two sidewalls 22. Each of the walls 21 and 22 is provided with elongateapertures 25 for venting.

The lower margin of the assembly 20 comprises two resilient tongues 24,one on each side wall 22, and sixteen locating tabs 26.

Each side wall 22 is provided with a pair of tabs 26 on each side of thetongue 24, each pair of tabs 26 of each side wall 22 being spaced in thedirection of the thickness of the side wall. Similarly, each end wall 21comprises four locating tabs 26. The two innermost tabs on each end wallbeing spaced from the two outermost tabs in the direction of thethickness of the wall.

Each tongue 24 comprises an inwardly extending protrusion 28. A notchfeature 27 is provided in the wall 22 on each side of the tongue 24 toenhance the resilience of the tongue laterally of the enclosure assembly20.

The uppermost margin of the assembly 20 comprises two handles 29 andsixteen tab receiving recesses 30. The recesses 30 are sized andarranged to receive the tabs 26 of a second enclosure assembly 20.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a handle 29 in more detail. Each handle 29 comprisesfour recessed portions 32 of substantially circulate outline and fivesubstantially flat surface portions 31, three of which are interposedbetween the recessed portions 32. Below each handle 29 a recess 33 isprovided which is sufficiently large to allow the fingers of a person topass there through. Each handle further comprises five outer ribs 37.

With reference to FIG. 5, the assembly 20 comprises four corner hinges35 which are located at the interface between a side wall 22 and an endwall 21, and two hinges 36 which are located centrally of each end wall21. As seen in FIG. 5, the hinges 35 and 36 conveniently allow theassembly to be arranged in a collapsed condition.

Turning to FIG. 6 there is shown a tray 40 for use with the enclosureassembly 20. The tray 40 comprises four walls, which walls are providedwith two handles 43. The handles 43 are substantially identical to thehandles 29 of the enclosure assembly 20. The recesses 42 are sized andarranged to locate the tabs 26 of the enclosure assembly 20.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the use of the enclosure assembly 20, togetherwith the tray 40 and an enclosure assembly 50. The enclosure assembly 50is substantially identical to enclosure assembly 20, save for the factthat assembly 50 is approximately twice as high as the assembly 20.

In use the assembly 50 is initially pushed downwards into the tray 40and in doing so the protrusions of the tongues on the lower margincontact with the outwardly facing ribs 44 of each respective handle ofthe tray 40. Such contact urges the tongues to deflect generallyoutwardly of the assembly 50. With continual downward movement thetongues of the assembly 50 negotiate the handles and, by virtue of theinherent resilience of the tongues, the tongues ‘snap’ into a attachedcondition. Furthermore, in such an attached condition the tabs ofassembly 50 are located in respective recesses 42 of the tray 40. Theassembly 50 is thus attached to the tray 40, and encloses a regionthereabove.

Similarly, the assembly 20 is then pushed downwards onto the uppermargin of the assembly 50, so that the protrusions 28 of the assembly 20

Similarly, the assembly 20 is then pushed downwards onto the uppermargin of the assembly 50, so that the protrusions 28 of the assembly 20contact with the ribs 54 and then snap into position under therespective handles 52 of assembly 50, and the tabs 26 being located bythe respective recesses on the upper margin of the assembly 50.

As can be seen in FIG. 8, in the attached condition of the assembly 50the protrusion 28 of the tongue 24 is located under the handle 52 andsaid protrusion bears against flat surface portions 53 of the handle 52.

The stacked arrangement of FIG. 7 is particularly advantageous when thecontainer holds tall goods, such as plants, the height of which isgreater than that of an enclosure assembly, in which case a secondenclosure assembly is attached onto a first enclosure assembly. Thusadvantageously the same mechanism is used to attach an enclosureassembly to a container as to attach an enclosure assembly to anotherenclosure assembly.

Advantageously the stacked enclosure assemblies form a substantiallyrigid structure the height of which can be chosen in accordance whichthe height of the goods to be transported.

Advantageously, enclosure assemblies of different heights can bemanufactured, but, importantly, comprising co-operable attachment means,which offer to a user an increased number of possible stack heightconfigurations.

Although specific reference has been made to a stack comprising only twoenclosure assemblies it will be appreciated that a stack of three ormore enclosure assemblies is possible depending on the height of thegoods to be transported.

Since both of the above described embodiments are collapsible to asubstantially flat condition the assemblies can be readily stowed.

It will be appreciated that in all of the embodiments hereinbeforedescribed the co-operation between the attachment means of an upperenclosure assembly and the attachment means of a lower adjacentenclosure assembly or a lower adjacent container or tray is sufficientto suspend that lower assembly or container or tray when the upperenclosure assembly is lifted. The co-operation is desirably sufficientso that a stack of multiple enclosure assemblies and a container or tray(with the goods therein) can be lifted from one of the enclosureassemblies of the stack.

1. Packaging, comprising: at least two enclosure assemblies which areadapted to be supported on a container and in situ the enclosureassemblies enclose a region above the container, each enclosure assemblycomprising co-operable attachment means and handle means, an arrangementof a first enclosure assembly being such that the attachment means ofthe first enclosure assembly which is adapted to be supported on acontainer is engaged with the attachment means of a second enclosureassembly, aid enclosure assemblies forming a stack in which the secondenclosure assembly encloses a region above the first enclosure assembly,each enclosure assembly being characterized in that a first part of theattachment means comprises protrusion means and a second art of theattachment means comprises protrusion receiving means, the protrusionreceiving means being provided by a space which is sized to allow thefingers of a person to pass therethrough, and the space being providedbelow the handle means, the enclosure assemblies having a substantiallytubular form defined by two side walls and two end walls that determinea first margin and a second margin of the assemblies at respective firstand second distal ends thereof, the assemblies having openings at thedistal ends, the openings being at least as large as the first marginand second margin, respectively, wherein the protrusion means isarranged to be moved generally laterally outwardly of one assembly so asto disengage the a attachment means of two such assemblies, eachenclosure assembly further comprising a locating tab extending from eachof the walls at the first margin, and a tab receiving recess provided ineach of the walls at the second margin, and the locating tab and the tabreceiving recesses arranged such that one of the tabs and the recessesof the first enclosure assembly locate with one of the recesses andtabs, respectively, of the second enclosure assembly.
 2. Packaging asclaimed in claim 1, wherein in each enclosure assembly the first art ofthe attachment means is spaced from the second part of the attachmentmeans in the direction of the height of the enclosure assembly. 3.Packaging as claimed in claim 2, wherein in each enclosure assembly thefirst part of the attachment means and the second part of the attachmentmeans are located towards respective distal ends of the enclosureassembly.
 4. Packaging as claimed in claim 3, wherein in each enclosureassembly the first art of the attachment means is located towards alowermost margin of the enclosure assembly and the second part of theattachment means is located towards an uppermost margin of the enclosureassembly.
 5. Packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first part ofthe attachment means of one enclosure assembly is adapted to be engagedwith the second part of the attachment means of another assembly. 6.Packaging as claimed in claim 1 in which engagement between the firstpart of the attachment means and the second part of the attachment meansis by way of a male-to-female engagement.
 7. Packaging as claimed inclaim 1 in which the first part of the attachment means of the firstenclosure assembly is adapted to engage with the container so that thefirst enclosure assembly is secured to the container to enclose a regionabove said container.
 8. Packaging as claimed in claim 1 in which theprotrusion means is of a tapered profile.
 9. Packaging as claimed inclaim 8 in which the tapered profile widens laterally of the enclosureassembly with increasing height of the enclosure assembly.
 10. Packagingas claimed in claim 1 in which the protrusion means is provided securedto a resilient portion.
 11. Packaging as claimed in claim 10 in whichthe resilient portion extends generally downwards of the enclosureassembly.
 12. Packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein each enclosureassembly is of oblong rectangular shape, protrusion means being providedon opposite sides of each enclosure assembly.
 13. Packaging as claimedin claim 1 wherein the first enclosure assembly comprises enclosureassembly attachment means and container attachment means, the enclosureassembly attachment means being physically distinct from the containerattachment means.
 14. Packaging as claimed in claim 1 in which theattachment means of each enclosure assembly is such that the stack andthe container may be lifted from the handle means.